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3 Sheets-Sheet 1. o. A. HAMLIN.

Stove. No. 231,163. Patented Aug. 17,1880.

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CHARLES A. HAM/xv,

".FETHIS, PHOTO-LITHDGRAPKER; WASHINGTON. D C.

,3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

O. A. HAMLIN.

Stove.

No. 231,163. Patented Aug. 17,1880.

N-PEI'ERS, .PNOTWLIYHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. HAMLIN, OF GREENBUSH, ASSIGNOR TO RANSOM STOVE WORKS, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

STOVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,163, dated August 1'7, 1880.

Application filed J unc 1'7, 1879.

To all whom at may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES A. HAMLIN, of Greenbush, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stoves for Burning Bituminous (loal, of which the following is a full and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement upon that class of stoves, constructed to burn bituminous fuel, in which the coal is contained in a magazine that is provided at its base with side-draft openings and having a grated firebed to support the fuel, which stoves have an adjacent combustion-chamber in which the gases produced are burned; and my invention consists in a manner of arranging an impel-forated fire-bed to support the fuel, instead of a grate or perforated fire-bed, and which, when vibrated or rotated, will discharge the einders and ashes over its perimeter, the object of my invention being to limit the direction of the draft-currents to a horizontal passage from the point of entrance to and through the opening leading into the adjacent flame-chamber, which limitation cannot be successfully accomplished in the class of stoves to which my invention is applicable where a grated or perforated fire-bed is employed.

My invention also consists in the manner of constructing the bottom of the flame-chamber and adjoining imperforated fire-bed, so that an igniting air-current under a draft force may enter the flame-chamber at its base to better consume the gases generated in the retortingchamber.

My invention further consists in arranging in a heating-stove a fuel-retort provided with a direct-draft flue leading immediately to the exit flue, and a connected adjacent flamechamber provided with a means to positively utilize a horizontal draft at the base of the retort, and, by means of a flame-passage, to 0011- nect with the flame-chamber where the gases produced and ignited in the retort are expanded and burned by means of an opening and an entering air-current, in combination with a radiating flue or flues connecting the flame-chamber with the exit-flue of the stove, as hereinafter described.

The means and manner of construction employed by me to utilize a horizontally-directed combustion through the fuel in the bottom of the retort-ing-chamber into an adjacent flamechamber, where the ignited and eliminated gases are expanded and burned by an admitted current of air, constitute the leading features of my improvement as distinguished from an older method of construction designed to accomplish a similar result by the use of a different arrangement of non-equivalent factors.

In the class of stoves that my invention is designed to improve a magazine is employed, having at its bottom either a basket-grate or a horizontally-grated tire-bed, and in either of these modifications the air-draft will seek its most direct and shortest passage through the fuel to the flame-chamber, the line of least resistance being through that part of the grated fire-bed nearest the flame-chamber, and hence a large portion of the fuel is out of the current; but in my improved construction the fire-bed, as an imperforated plate, merely supports the fuel, while all the air passingdnto the retorting igniting-chamber at its base is compelled to move horizontally to an egressopening arranged oppositely in the said chamber, at or near its base, connecting with the flame-chamber, and thus all the fuel designed to be in a state of ignition is equally under the moving draft influence.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and to which reference is herein made, Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a stove containing my invention and improvements; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of the same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of Fig. 1 on the line w 00. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 3 y of Fig. 6, showing the direct-draft communication, with the exitflue opened 5 Fig. 5, a like section-that shown in Fig. 4-with the direct draft to the exit-flue closed; Fig. 6, a horizontal section on the line 2 z of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a vertical section, showing the manner of arranging the chute for supplying fuel to the retort, and also showing the direct-draft flue connecting the retort with the exit-flue open. Fig. 8 is a reproduction of Fig. 7, but with the direct-draft damper and flue closed; Fig. 9, a horizontal section on the line a." .10 of Fig. 7.

The several parts of the stove and their c011- nected operations are designated and described by letter-references, as follows: A designates the radiating shell of the stove, which may be made of any desired form adapted to contain my invention. B designates the ignition and retorting chamber, having a conical top, 1;, and provided with the fuel chute G, which is opened and closed by the door g. In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 7, and S the said fuel-chute is shown as located at the front of the stove; but in Figs.4 and 5 it is shown as placed at the side.

The ignition and retorting chamber 1 has for a fire-bed an imperforated plate, I and the said chamber is provided with a grated ingress draft-aperture at b and an oppositely-arranged egress flame-passage, b, which opens into the adjacent flame-chamber C. Said flame-chamber is provided with an inclined deflectingplate, 0, arranged in front of the egress tlamepassage 1), by means of which the flame entering the flame-chamber is deflected upwardly and guided toward the mica windows 11, so as to burn off any fuliginous substance that may be deposited on said windows during any sluggish condition of the fire.

Under the flame-passage b there is an aperture, 0, formed between the lower edge of the deflecting-plate c and the imperforated plate E, for a current of air to enter from the ash-pit I into the flame and passing gases, to aid in their combustion when expanded in the same-chamber C. Air is supplied to the ashpit I through the stove-front at j. It then passes rearward, as indicated by arrows, so as to enter the grated aperture h, arranged in the side (at the base) of the ignition and retorting chamber B; or, if desired, the draft may enter at the rear of the stove, through the door II, communicating with the ash-pit.

At F there is shown a flue connecting the igniting and retorting chamber B directly with the exit-flue. Said flue F, in its operation, is opened and closed by means of a damper, f, and the direction of the direct-draft current when employed is indicated by arrows in Figs. 4 and 7, and the direction of the heated cur rents as they pass from the flame-chamber to the exit-flue through the openingj", when the damperfis closed, is shown by the arrows in Figs. 5 and 8.

D designates a forward extension of the shell of the stove for forming an enlargement of the flame-chamber U, and it contains the upper portion of theinclined deflecting-plate c.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 the lateral spaces between the casing or shell A and the chambers B and (J are divided into the descending flues K and ascending lines L, and for this purpose a diaphragm, M, is placed over the chamber 0, and at each end of said diaphragm a pendent flue-strip, N, is fixed so as to leave a space between the lower end of said strip and the bottom plate of the stove. The effect of this arrangement is that the direct passage from the chamber 0 to the opening f is closed by the diaphragm, and the heated currents are forced to pass over the upper edge of the plates 0, (forming the sides of the flame-chamber 0,) down through the flues K, under the lower end of the pendent; fluestrips N, upward through the flues L, and thence through the openingf to the exit-opening.

The operation of a stove constructed with my improvements is as follows: After the retort is supplied with fuel, it is indispensable, while starting the fire, that the direct-draft flue I should be opened to force the draft-currents,that will then enter the ignition retortingchamber B through the ingress draft-aperture b, air-opening c, and flame-passage b, to pass upwardly through the fuel in the chamber B until said fuel has been thoroughly ignited. This preliminary act is essential for the reason that without it the air from the ash-pit will pass out through the aperture 0, and thence directly to the exit-opening, thereby not only failing to aid in the least degree the process of combustion, but, by cutting ofl' the draft by passing of outside of the chamber B, preventing the occurrence ofany active combustion in said chamber. That the air-currents will pursue the course last described if the direct-draft flue is closed while starting up the fire is manifest from the fact that such a course, by avoiding the, fuel in the chamber, passes through the line of least obstruction.

\Vhen the fuel in the chamber B is thoroughly ignited, thereby producing an incrustation of coke, the stove is then in condition for burning the fuel by means of an enforced horizontal draft. This effect is produced by then turning the damperf to close the directdraft flue 1, thereby compelling the air to enter the chamber B through the ingress draftaperture b,and,by passing horizontally through said chamber, maintaining the combustion beneath the incrustation of coke in the lower portion of the chamber B. While this horizontally-directed combustion and ignition are occurring in the lower zone of the coal in the chamber 1 the heat from it serves to distill from the overlying coal its hydrocarbon gases, which, when eliminated, are forced to move through the flame-passage b into the flamechamber 0, receiving in passing over the aperture 0 additional atmospheric oxygen for their more perfect combustion, which then becomes so intense that the iucombustible gases in the flame-chamber are so highly rarefied that, by the rapidity of their escape, a vacuum is produced in the flame-chamber that cannot be filled by the air entering through the aperture 4-, and, as a consequence, air is forcibly drawn into the chamber B, through the ingress draftapertnre b, in suflicient quantities to maintain the slow combustion of the coal in said chamher; andthus the coal is ignited and coked in one inclosure and principally burned in another-an adjacent one-in the form of gas.

All the advantage resulting from having within the stove a large reserve supply of bituminous fuel with but a small portion in a state of ignition is accomplished, which cannot be done where a vertical draft, either partial or entire, is employed by means of a grate or perforated plate instead of the imperforated plate E for a fire-bed.

One of the principal difficulties encountered in burning bituminous coal in stoves arises from the fact that each fresh supply of coal is quickly transformed into an incrustation of coke of sufficient density to always greatly impede, and very frequently to entirely prevent, the underlying flame and gases from passing through it, and from this cause the fire soon smothers and dies. To remedy this defect and to maintain a continuous combustion in such coal when used in stoves employing draft-currents that must pass through the incrustations, it is essential and a common custom to furnish mechanical means for breaking up this crust of coke, so as to obtain sufficient openings for the emission of the flame and gases through it.

My invention, which compels, by means of the enforced horizontal draft, the burning away of the fuel from the underside of the incrustations, entirely avoids the necessity forbreaking up the coke-crusts, and the combustion produced is so effective that it causes all g Bituminous fuel parts with its volatile gases j at a low temperature compared with that produced by their combustion and where magazine-stoves are constructed with the feeder directly over the hottest part of a fire, operated by a vertical draft through the fuel beneath the magazine, all the reserve fuel contained in the latter is under the direct and immediate influence of the heat so produced and located, and this condition is at times difficult to control without the evolution of smoke. These methods differ from mine in the fact that in it the greatest heat is produced in the flamechamber'fwhich is not beneath the reserve fuel, and with just enough combustion maintained in the lower zone of the latter by means of a lateral draft alone to ignite it and to produce sufficient heat to slowly coke the fuel that lies higher up in the retort; and this result is produced in the igniting retorting-chamber by means of the oppositely-arranged ingress and egress openings and the imperforated plate E. The effect of these elements of construction, as I arrange them, would be the same whether the connected flame-chamber was constructed as shown or formed in some other manner, but relatively adjacent and connected with the retortingchamber in a similar manner.

While I have shown the im perforated plate E as rising from its perimeter to its pivotal center, I do not desire to limit my invention, of which it forms in application a part, to the form shown, for any other form of plate that can be vibrated so as to discharge the ashes over its edge will answer the same purpose, provided it is not constructed with openings, or so that it will admit air to interfere with the necessary conditions of the horizontal draft over the plate which I employ.

I am well aware that a divided tire-chamber has been employed and so conditioned by construction that the fuel could be fed in on one side and burned on both sides of the partition by means of a combined lateral and vertical draft; but the vertical draft in such a construction would from necessity become the principal one, and the lateral draft useless, from the free passage offered by the former for the movement of the air-currents. None of the older devices of this class, as constructed by means of a division-plate, and having a vertical draft and an assumed means for a combined vertical and lateral draft, were arranged to utilize the divided stove interior so that one portion could be used as a retorting ignition-chamber and the other as a flame-chamber, for, as constructed, both spaces at the bottom terminated in one, where the fuel was burned in a solid form on both sides of the vertical division-plate.

I am also aware that magazine-stoves have been constructed with V-shaped fire-chambers,

the magazine or feeder being arranged in an inclined position to feed the fuel upon a movable inclined grated plate and against a back plate inclined in a reverse direction; but that construction is open to the objection that when bituminous coal is used for its fuel the in crustration of coke, hereinbefore referred to, will form on the surface of the fuel, 011 a line with back of the magazine, and there present an impassable barrier against the passage of the underlying flame and gases and, as an additional objection, that construction has no aperture for the admission of air to ignite the eliminated gases after they have passed out from the incandescent fuel, which feature is an essential one to the successful operation of my improvement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a stove for burning bituminous fuel by igniting and coking it in one inclosure and further burning it in the form of gas in a connected adjacent flame-chamber, a fuel-retort constructed with oppositely-arranged ingress and egress draft-openings near its base for limiting the direction of the draft-currents to a horizontal passage, as herein described, in combination with an imperforated bottom plate for supporting the fuel and an air-opening formed at the bottom of the flame-chamber for the admission of air into the flame and gases as they pass from the retort-ing-chamber into the flame-chamber, as shown and described.

2. In a heating-stove for burning bituminous fuel, an igniting; and retorting fuelchamber arranged to utilize an enforced horizontal draft by means of ingress and egress draft-openings formed oppositely in the base of said chamber, with the latter provided at its bottom with an impertorated fuel-supporting plate instead of a grate, and connecting: by means of its egress-opening with an adjacent flame-chamber, in combination with a direct-draft flue provided with a damper and connecting the retorting-ehamber directly with the exit-flue for kindling the tire in the base of the retorting-ehamber, as herein described, and an ascending tine or tines arranged between the retorting-chamher and the shell of the stove, connecting the flanie-chambcr with the exit-flue when the direct-draft damper is closed, as herein shown and described.

3. In a heating-stove for burnin; bituminous fueLand in eombinntion with the retorting ignition-chamber B, its ingress and egress draft-apertures b and b, imperforated fuel- 25 supporting bed I), flame-chamber (J, inclined deflecting-plate c, and revertible flues K and L, formed by the diaphragm M and plates 0 and N, as shown and described.

4. In a stove for burning bituminous fuel, 0

the combination of the ignition and retorting chamber 1 adapted, by means of the oppositeLr-arranged ingress and egress draft-openings b and b and imperforated-plate fuelbed 1), to utilize an enforced horizontal draft- 5 current, as herein described, with an adjacent iiame-chamher, C, connecting with the chamber l by means of the egress draft-opening b, and containing the inclined deflecting-plate e, whereby the flame emitted from the opening 0 IL. s.] 

